Essence of the Tree ยท Planting Wizard Prototype

Find the right Japanese maple for your garden.

A non-production Shopify island concept for guiding gardeners from site conditions to named cultivars, nursery notes, and product-page next steps.

Operational catalog only Shopify handoff language No iframe assumption

Guided Finder

Find a tree for my site

Start with your garden conditions, then let the wizard screen the selected cultivar and suggest alternatives.

1. Tell us the site

ZIP, hardiness zone, light, and planting space stay visible for a fast nursery-counter conversation.

2. Compare named trees

Recommendations remain deterministic and pull only from the active operational catalog.

Check a Cultivar

I already like one tree

Search a cultivar by name, alias, or product handle, then run a quick or detailed planting fit check.

Browse All Cultivars

Inventory-aware cultivar browsing

Browse image-led cards from the operational catalog. Reference-only records are intentionally excluded here.

Opt-in Reference Library

Reference records stay separate

This panel can load metadata-only reference cultivars for review, but those records never feed search, fit checks, or alternatives.

Reference-only data source

data/reference_cultivars.json is loaded only when this area is opened.

Planting Fit

Quick check first

Search a cultivar, confirm ZIP and USDA zone, then add the few site basics that shape maple success.

Cultivar selection

Site basics

ZIP can suggest a USDA zone. Light and planting space help translate nursery knowledge into a first-pass recommendation.

Advanced mode / Detailed check Open for soil, drainage, pH, space, wind, and watering detail

Use this when you want a more precise fit check. The extra fields stay collapsed until you need them.

Prototype only. Browser-native rules, no AI runtime, no Shopify write actions.

Recommendation

Fit result and product handoff

The result explains fit, cautions, confidence, and a practical next step toward a product page or nursery follow-up.

Choose a tree and run the evaluator to see a recommendation.